School Budget Discussion

Re: School Boundaries

But the kids that are obese are not the ones that are participating in the sports programs to start with. It does not matter how many opportunities you offer them they are not the ones these programs are for. Besides it is not the schools responsibility to deal with obesity. That needs to be addressed at home and some personal responsibility.

On another note we are talking about what a huge job it is to be an athletic director at a HS and what AFGM described is basically what I do all summer long as a volunteer - managing the pools, tennis courts, playgrounds, lifeguards, swim coaches, summer camps, etc. Yes they have more sports then I do but they are also getting paid where I volunteer. It is not that hard of a job and there is no way it takes 3 plus people to do it in addition to all the coaches, and trainers. Each sport needs to take some responsibility for itself and not wait for some admin.

Staci

 

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Maybe we should use the $250000 going to the Redskins to fund our kids instead.

 

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Also, obesity is not caused by not exercising. There are plenty of very athletic people who are obese. Fat does not equal unfit. There are also plenty of people who fall into the normal and underweight categories who are terribly unfit.

The biggest cause of obesity is genetics.

Gym, recess, and sports are important not because without them our kids will get fat, but because they are kids and need to have time to run around and get the ya-yas out so they can learn better.

 

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You must not have kids in sports. My son played three sports in high school and he learned how to manage his time for homework etc. Sports are important.

 

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A response to afgm's note on athletic programs:

On Briar Woods' website they list 19 varsity sports, not 50. The heavy maintenance you speak of happens mainly for football and basketball, not for the many other "lesser" sports. I am familiar with track/field, cross country, and swimming. The majority of work is done by coaches and parent volunteers. The AD's role is extremely minimal, and even the simple scheduling role he has could be done more effectively by a coach or parent. Coaches and parents do all the organizing of volunteers and purchases of uniforms, etc. I'm not sure that the AD has ever seen a swim meet or a cross country meet. So what you are talking about is an administrative position, plus his assistant, doing heavy lifting for a few of the glory sports, predominantly. And how many coaches do these particular sports have per HS? Enough that they should be able to do more of the workload that the AD apparently does.

Sports do not need to be cut. Most of these teams could run without an AD. Parents would volunteer their time to fill the gaps and coaches would work together to take on a bit more of the administrative load. Less bureaucracy would probably make it run smoother.

In "the old days" my HS in NY had more varsity sports than Loudoun County offers, we had no AD, and we had over 1300 kids for grades 10-12. I competed at a national level due to a couple of coaches who went above and beyond to create a great program and great competitive opportunities. The HS's administrators had no part in this. It has been done and it can be done. What we see now is the over-reliance on administrators to do simple tasks, due to the illusion that MORE is better. More administrators and more money spent does not equal better quality sports programs. Empowering coaches would yield better results.

 

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I want to talk about this, but I'll start a new thread so as not to hijack this one.

 

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sports are important on a number of levels- making exercise a part of a daily routine from a young age, socially, teamwork, responisibility- a lot of things can be learned through sports. NO it doesn't take for EVERYONE, but I can honestly say being a part of a team in high school helped keep ME in line- did not want to screw up and be kicked off the team. made it easy to find ppl to hang out with with a common interest since I was something of a misfit.

and as Liz said- kids gotta get the ya-yas out! i would vote against removing sports, PE, art or music form schools.

 

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Are you counting Freshman and JV versions of each applicable sport. Football and basketball both boys and girls, gives you 12 total. This probably changes some of your assumptions.

 

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Can't do it. the $250k is revenue from the transient occupancy tax. State regulations mandate that the revenue be used for tourist promotion. It's a tax on hotels.

 

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Ah, and where did you get your medical degree? I think you're incorrect.

 

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Steve, you're getting my point. What program items should be cut?

 

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mwb, cutting the sports program is an option. Now put yourself into Hatrick's shoes and decide which sports you want to cut? Which ones do you think are not necessary? It's easy to say cut an AD, but tell me which sports you want to cut.

I am not trying to be cute, this is the reality of the situation. Every program that is considered for cuts will have a constituency ready to defend it. Why not cut drama? Why not cut football? Why not cut Jazz band? Why not cut orchestra? See how many parents rise up and ***** if their kids program is going to get effected.

Look what is happening about the four schools that are on the list to evaluate for cuts. Apparently they are sacred. You'll find supports for everything that think their "item" is sacred.

Everything that is considered for cuts is going to be painful. The debate needs to be at the program level. Get specific.

 

Re: School Boundaries

I agree it would need to be at a program level. Possibly one solution would be to evaluate any sport that has low participation or interest levels (as compared to % of student population) and high overhead costs.

I'm quite aware that a constituency exists for every type of activity, but it boils down to is this: Is it a govt responsibility or a parental responsibility to encourage active participation in sports? Just throwing it out there for debate-

My plan as a relative newbie parent; get outside as early on and as much as possible and actively teach your kid firsthand that sports and physical activity is a key to a fulfilling life. My wife and I are both long distance triathletes and we live this & teach this to our daughter daily. I'm not going to rely on the potential activity offering at a school system to make our decision as to whether or not we will instill this.

Based on what you described, it seems as though the sporting programs within the school system has grown to what I would consider a bloated level.

Just my perspective-

 

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This hits the nail on the head. But then, why volunteer when Hatrick can pay lots of people lots of money to do it?
If parents are not willing to step up and volunteer to take on some of the load that the loss of school staff, then cut those sports. If it is important to them or their kids, they will find the time.

Yes, cutting "parent liasons" is a good start. A few parents complained that they weren't getting information from a school. Rather than fix the problem with those individuals, the schools create a new paid position to do it! What a joke.

 

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I challenge you to name 50 sports programs at any Loudoun school.

 

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My assumptions are not changed. The fact that there are both freshman and JV versions of a sport is utterly indulgent. To pay taxpayer money to accommodate these extra versions of varsity sports is totally wasteful. If kids and parents want to have extra teams for younger or less talented kids to participate then they should support them with their own work and money as a club sport. It's unacceptable that we should have to consider eliminating special ed services, for example, so that we can hold onto administrative jobs to support a freshman football team and the like. And again, IMO, the freshman football team can still exist without an AD.

As for coaches/teachers being overextended - yes. But being a HS coach is a labor of love, not a get rich scheme. The good, invested coaches will readily do the workload and beyond to advance their team, their sport, their passion.

Why can't one of the 3-4 assistant principals at the high schools be responsible for overseeing athletics? The HS ADs report to the county AD, not the principal of their school. So the administration of athletics has indeed become its own independent fiefdom, with its own rules and regulations.

 

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Close to 50 sport teams, not programs.

 

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Boys Basketball V, JV, Frosh
Boys Baseball V, JV
Boys Lacrosse V, JV
Boys Soccer V, JV
Boys Tennis
Girls Cheerleading Fall V, JV, Frosh
Girls Cheerleading Winter V, JV, Frosh
Golf
Boys Crosscountry
Girls Crosscountry
Girls Tennis
Girls Basketball V, JV, Frosh
Girls Lacrosse V, JV
Girls Soccer V, JV
Gymnastics
Swimming
Girls Softball V, JV
Swimming
Girls Track
Boys Track
Volleyball V, JV, Frosh
Wrestling V, JV
Athletic Trainers Fall, Winter, Spring

(I am pretty sure every H.S. has the same program, there maybe a couple that are missing. Heritage and Stone Bridge have all these programs)

42 separate teams. You owe me a beer.

 

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So the question is which sports team(s) do you want to cut?

BTW, part of Hatrick's plan is to charge participants of sports a per sport user fee. Seems reasonable to me.